


The void in the night.

by CyanideCherub



Category: Original Work, Short Story - Fandom, ghost story - Fandom
Genre: Based on a True Story, Horror, Monster - Freeform, Original work - Freeform, Scary, Short, beasts - Freeform, ghost story, local myths, orginial content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyanideCherub/pseuds/CyanideCherub
Summary: Have you ever wondered what happens when you step into a world that borders yours and you see something you're not supposed to?





	The void in the night.

# Things that go clack in the night.

So, my youngest sister is babysitting my grandparents dog. She’s on her own and had really weird encounter. I mean super weird. So she let me write and embellish it a bit! 

 

* * *

 

 

Sleep is like a cloak of invisibility. It protects you from the things that call the night their home. The myths and legends that lurk in the corner of your eyes. It protects you from the things that make your shadow their home. Sleepy is the only way to be at night when the world shifts from a space that the waking dominate, to that of a liminal domain where the bumps in the night linger, waiting for you to make a mistake.

Which is why when I made the wee hours trip from the bathroom to the bedroom a blanket of unease settled on me like a second skin. Normally I could shift the betraying thoughts in my head. The ones that tell warn you about the things that lurk, that base instinct that hits you like a cold chill and tells you to run to the sweet protection of your duvet. That magical shield, diplomatic immunity from the supernatural.

I tip-toed across the carpet as though it would make any difference to the things that watched me do it. I traced my hands along furniture despite knowing where everything was. I guess I needed to feel the reassurance that the chest of draws hadn’t sprouted eyes or claws. It wasn’t until I reached the bedroom window that I’d realised that I'd walked straight past the bed, like the command had been erased from my mind. Something was drawing me in. My fingers trembled with protest as I pulled back the slightest slice of netting, trying to catch a peak of the street below.

Nothing seemed unusual, at first. Streetlights burned with an old orange glow that saturated the pavements with a sickly overlay. Curtains were drawn and every light in the houses surrounding me were off. There were no cars and no sound, even the wind was stilled tonight. I looked over at my neighbour’s house, something pestered me about it. I guessed their streetlight wasn’t working, which wasn’t unusual. But it was. In my half-waking state, I realised the light was working, it cast itself towards the ground but feet before it hit it, the light just didn’t exist. In its place a hulking mass moved, slowly, like morning mist climbing a peak. It was clunky and jittered and the longer I looked the more unnerved I felt.

It's just a drunk or a trick. Or maybe I’m drunk or so sleep deprived I’m seeing things. I kept looking, mortal curiosity winning over. I could see what looked be a head. Hunched down and lower than naturally possible. The shape was grotesquely hunched, inky and devoid of light but I could tell enough, whatever it was, wasn’t human. The mass moved so slowly I wasn’t even sure time was passing. It was almost like it was phasing, forwards, backwards, harsh, indeterminable movements.

The mass stopped. I was certain of that. Halted so suddenly I almost screamed. I could feel my pulse racing, nerves bundled and on fire. I heard a snap, the sound carried in the silence even against the hard beating of my own heart. A glowing white face glared at me. Horrifying, like the translucent underbelly of a fish. Ghastly and pale. Hollow eyes seemed to squint at me in a questioning manner. What was a human like me doing awake at a time like this?

My mouth opened, unable to breathe thought my nose, unable to make a sound. The mass’s head twisted and snapped like a misshapen dog. I could feel beads of sweat forming down my back. The whole thing turned towards me and I could feel myself screaming to run. I was still stuck on it; my mind was transfixed.

_Step._

I could hear the tapping of a booted foot in my head. I don’t even know how but I heard it all the same. I urged my fingers to peel back, gritting my teeth as each refused me.

_Step._

It was in the road now. Moving that still same pace towards the house. Determined and slow. The frustration and fear were insurmountable, I’ve never felt anything like it and probably never will again. I’d managed to pull one hand away from the window. Curtain falling back, the only thing I could see was a black void and a pale, sickly white face.

_Step._

I yanked on my other hand. It refused to budge. Refused to listen to me. _C’mon. Just move._ It was like it had turned to concrete against the painted gloss of the window ledge. I took one last look at the mass. I could feel an energy coming from it, almost excitement and decided I needed to get back to bed, now.

_Silence._

With a final heave I used all my strength to pull myself back, tumbling straight into the wooden frame, cracking my heels against them. I hoisted myself under the covers as quickly as I could. Returning to the safety of my magic barrier, heart beating so fast I thought I was going to keel over. Like a child I put the covers over my head and told myself it wasn’t real, wishing at that moment I had someone to corroborate what I saw or at least tell me it was all in my head.

For hours it seemed I lay there under the covers waiting for the end but eventually I must have dozed off. Adrenaline giving way to exhaustion, exhaustion to empty black dreaming. My alarm went off, the familiar jingle roused me from my hollow sleep. I groaned, willing it to shut up. Hands flailing blindly for my mobile. It had fallen during the night and I reached over the bed and to the floor a familiar sound filled my ears.

_Step. Step._


End file.
